Medals or mosquitoes? Zika still talk of Olympic golf

Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy watches his shot off the 18th tee on day four of the Irish Open at The K Club, County Kildare, Ireland, Sunday May 22, 2016. (Brian Lawless/PA via AP) UNITED KINGDOM OUT
(The Associated Press)

Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy holds the trophy after winning the Irish Open at The K Club, County Kildare, Ireland, Sunday May 22, 2016. (Brian Lawless/PA via AP) UNITED KINGDOM OUT
(The Associated Press)

England's Danny Willett reacts after missing a putt on the 12th hole during day four of the Irish Open at The K Club, in Straffan, Ireland, Sunday May 22, 2016. (Brian Lawless / PA via AP) UNITED KINGDOM OUT - NO SALES - NO ARCHIVES
(The Associated Press)

Olympic qualifying for golf ends in seven weeks, at which time players will have to determine if medals outweigh mosquitoes.

For now, there is only concern.

Rory McIlroy was the latest player to say Zika was in the back of his mind. In an interview with the BBC after his Irish Open victory, he said he has been reading up on the mosquito-borne virus, which has been linked to serious birth defects. McIlroy is engaged, and he said they might be starting a family in the next few years.

"I have to monitor that situation," he said.

Masters champion Danny Willett was the next to weigh in. Asked about it Tuesday at the BMW PGA Championship, the 28-year-old from England said he was keeping on top of it. Willett's wife, Nicole, had their first child just 11 days before he slipped on the green jacket.

"It's not great, is it? There's going to be 500,000 people watching the Olympics, and you have 11,000 athletes right in the heart of where it's at," Willett said. "If it turns out that it would be a massive threat to myself or to Nic or to the little man, then I probably wouldn't go. Family comes first.

"But as it stands at the minute, I think everything should be OK."

The Zika virus is in the news everywhere, which goes beyond the standard media outlets.

The International Golf Federation posted a two-page update on its website last month, and it is passing along Zika-related material from the International Olympic Committee and the World Health Organization to tours and player liaisons.

Andy Levinson, executive director of USA Golf, said Tuesday that updates from WHO and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are posted in the weekly bulletins left in lockers and on the "Players Links" website, where PGA Tour players get other pertinent information they don't want to miss — like tee times, and FedEx Cup points, and where to leave their courtesy cars.

Two weeks ago at The Players Championship, the PGA Tour's doctor was in player dining for one-on-ones on Zika.

Vijay Singh made a passing reference to Zika last month when the 53-year-old Fijian decided not to play. Marc Leishman of Australia also mentioned Zika, and for good reason. His wife nearly died last year of toxic shock syndrome and her immune system remains weakened.

The other players to pull out — Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel — cited a busy schedule or family priorities.

Ask a player a question, and there's bound to be an answer, even if it's not entirely informed. McIlroy said he was planning to get "injections" on Wednesday so that "I will be immunized for whatever — if I do get bitten by a mosquito down there."

There is no vaccine for the Zika virus.

IGF executive director Antony Scanlon said he was in Rio de Janeiro a few weeks ago for meetings and saw workers spraying "an unbelievable amount of anti-mosquito" repellant around the various venues. He also repeated the timing — August is the tail end of winter in Brazil, and mosquitoes are not expected to be as prevalent.

Scanlon said he was most curious by the silence from the other side — the women.

"If anyone is at risk, it's the ladies," Scanlon said Tuesday from London. "We've heard nothing from them. I'm sure they've got concerns. And we're distributing as much information as we can to the players."

LPGA commissioner Mike Whan said as much two weeks ago during an Olympic news conference. He said five or six players have asked him about Zika, though none has said it would keep her from Rio. In an email Tuesday, he said not much has changed.

"They have been receiving regular updates on the topic," Whan said. "No player has suggested she is not coming (at least not to me). But it is certainly a concern."

It could be another example that the Olympics mean more to the women, who rarely get a stage as large as this and have a stronger tradition of competing for country in what was the first truly global tour.

Various headlines made it sound as though McIlroy and Willett might skip the Olympics because of Zika, and while their answers allowed some wiggle room, the context of their statements suggested nothing has changed.

At least not yet.

"We're down to go and hopefully they can give us some proper guidelines as to how to keep it at bay and keep it under control so that it doesn't ruin what could be potentially a fantastic Olympics," Willett said.

"Not as apprehensive as I once was," McIlroy said about the Olympics. "As it gets closer, I am relishing the thought of going down there and competing for gold."

This much is clear — golfers currently eligible for the Olympics are having to study more than hole locations and wind direction.